10 Ridiculous Story Decisions That Ruined Great Video Games

As a gamer, there are few things more frustrating than playing through a seemingly awesome game that appears to have it all – great graphics, memorable characters, fantastic set-pieces and so on – only to be confronted with a terrible plot turn – be it a twist, an unbelievable shift in a character’s personality, or simply something that doesn’t make sense – that undermines everything which came before it. At the best of times, it can be a frustration, and at the worst, it can flat-out ruin a game.

Such is the case in these games; so egregious and obnoxiously offensive were these story choices that they pretty much derailed the game entirely. Whether lazy, misguided or totally trolling, the writers behind these games might need to start looking for a new job…

10. Dead Hookers…Dead Hookers Everywhere – L.A. Noire

Rockstar’s L.A. Noire was one of the most-hyped games of 2011, and while it boasted brilliant graphics – largely due to the superb performance capture-aided facial animations – and excellent acting, it is also one of the most depressingly repetitive “AAA” titles in recent memory.

A sure case of overhype, L.A. Noire has you playing a plucky young detective based in Los Angeles, who slowly rises through the ranks, investigating crimes. From the cases the game slaps you with, you’d think that nothing else happens in the great city other than prostitution and murder…of prostitutes.

Around mid-way through the game, it goes from being a relatively engaging crime thriller – albeit with some questionable mechanics – to one that outright flatlines amid its own repetition. Far too many cases involve dead hookers, causing the game to fall into an exhaustive lull from which it struggles to recover. Though Cole’s WW2 back-story later on is great, many likely didn’t make it that far after having to suffer through these boring missions, a rarity for Rockstar.

Frequently sleep-deprived film addict and video game obsessive who spends more time than is healthy in darkened London screening rooms. Follow his twitter on @ShaunMunroFilm or e-mail him at shaneo632 [at] gmail.com.

Discussion

6 Comments

Wow, I didn’t know people were still bandwagoning about Raiden ten years later. Get over yourself, he’s no Snake but he’s a great character. Who are you trying to please with this article? Some whiny gamer nerd who’s stuck in 2002?

If you want to complain about something in a game that’s actually awful (I read the rest of your ten and WOW, that was an awful read), how about the “Trish dies no matter what” scenario in the forever awful inFAMOUS?

Raiden isn’t what derailed MGS2, it was the ridiculous rapid-fire plot twists that poisoned the last hour or 2. I still can’t believe Kojima managed to tie those strands up in MGS4 and actually have it make sense (for the most part anyway).